Sell Equity Commonwealth

Equity Commonwealth’s earnings have fallen in step with its asset base. The company has divested about $2.2 billion in assets under its new turnaround plan, with plans to sell off another $800 million before it begins investing in growth again. This hasn’t all been negative since it’s used the excess funds to pay off debt and buy back shares. It may be a long wait to see where management goes with its business. Shares are flat from when we recommended this stock last December. It’s time to sell EQC.

Diamond Hill Investment Group (NSDQ: DHIL) continues to grow its assets under management (AUM) as the financial markets rebound. In the first quarter, the company recorded net cash inflows of $357 million, bringing its total AUM to about $17.4 billion. This helped the company report first-quarter revenue growth of 4%, to $30.4 million. Net operating income came in at $13.7 million, also up 4% compared with the prior year, as operating margins held steady at 45%. Earnings per share fell 6% to $2.73 due to an increase in outstanding shares compared with 2015.

National Presto Industries (NYSE: NPK) announced first-quarter revenues fell by 14.4% to $86.5 million due mainly to the timing of its defense segment shipments, which fell 25.4% compared with the prior year’s shipments. The company’s housewares/small appliance business saw an 8.1% decrease, which was offset by 14% growth to its absorbent-product business.

Earnings came in at $7.2 million, or $1.04 per share, compared with $8.1 million, or $1.17 per share, in 2015.

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) reported first-quarter revenues increased 7.9% to $518 million. Excluding damage from currency exchange rates and the divestment of its Jungle Disk business, net revenues increased 9.9% compared with the same period in 2015. Net income surged 77.5% to $48.8 million in the first quarter due to stronger margins, which expanded to 9.4%, compared with 5.7% last year.

Management expects a normalized growth rate of between 8% and 9% for the second quarter, or revenues of between $519 million and $524 million. For the full year, the company expects revenues between $2.08 billion and $2.16 billion.

US Ecology (NSDQ: ECOL) reported total revenues of $113.3 million, compared with $136.7 million in the same quarter of 2015 due to divestments as well as a slowdown in the industrial sector. The first quarter of 2015 included a $13.9 million contribution from Allstate Power Vac, which the company sold off in November.

Net earnings for the quarter came in at $7.5 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared with $5.9 million, or $0.27 per diluted share in 2015.

Management reaffirmed its 2016 diluted EPS in the range of $1.80 and $1.95 per share, which is up about 6.5% compared with the prior year. It also expects adjusted EBITDA of $126 million to $132 million, a 5% year-over-year increase at the midpoint of its range.

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